From Middle School Teacher to Staff at a Sudbury School (w/ Matthew Gioia)

Matthew Gioia is a long-time staff member at the Hudson Valley Sudbury School, and before that, was a middle school teacher. On this episode, we talk to Matthew about the kinds of learning by living he sees at HVSS, how the school works, and the different experiences of teaching middle school and supporting students at HVSS.

1:42 - Matt’s Experience as a Middle School Teacher: “The principal was patting me on the back saying ‘Good job,’ but I didn’t feel good.”
9:51 -Matt’s Journey to Hudson Valley Sudbury School: “I had a different idea of what would be happening at this school.”
14:49 - Kinds of Activity and Learning at HVSS: “I split things into.... three categories…: casual, organized or formal, and governance.”
23:37 - Learning Through and Participating In School Governance: “The school itself isn’t focused on classroom activity; it is focused on… the governance of the school.”
31:44 - Life is About Making Space for Doing What You Love: “If you want to do something, you have to do it. You have to make it happen and keep after it.”
37:11 - Learning “Schoolish” Things at HVSS: “It’s just happening as they are pursuing their interests. And it really is true, and it really does work.”
42:40 - Students Who Transition to Conventional Schools: “They managed to compress what would have been nine years in a classroom into one year.”